Perseid Meteor Shower : 2013

I’m still reeling over the high point of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower which I witnessed over Leeds in the early hours of Tuesday in the grounds of Temple Newsam. It was such a spectacular event to just sit back and cast your eyes to the heavens and watch this celestial “natural firework display” unfold as our Earth’s orbit takes us through a stream of dusty comet fragments left behind when comet Swift-Tuttle passed close to Earth in 1992.

Amazingly my image below was also featured on the local BBC News channel …Yeah!! 🙂

Perseid Meteor Shower 2013 over Yorkshire

The meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation of Perseus, hence the name Perseid.

Perseid Meteor Shower 2013 over Leeds

I’ve got to say, to see these meteors burn up as they strike the atmosphere, creating dazzling streaks of light across the night sky was a magical solo experience…apart from the odd fox taking an interest in me and the trusty camera.

International Space Station over Temple Newsam

While I was in the grounds of Temple Newsam I also managed to capture the International Space Station as it graced the night sky over Leeds.

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10 thoughts on “Perseid Meteor Shower : 2013”

Absolutely amazing photographs Carl, and congrats on the feature. Well done! This is one of my favorite times of year. Though I didn’t have the opportunity to get out under dark skies this year, I did the backyard thing, 4 nights in a row, 3am till dawn. Loved every second of it!
Great post!

Thanks Alex, it was quite a surreal night in a place that usually has concerts with 10’s of thousands of people, and I had all to myself to see a more spectacular event… I lost count how many I witnessed, but I did see a brilliant burst of three at once.

Congrats to you for the honor of your pic on the BBC. Here in Iowa in the middle of the U.S., we had bad timing. Clouds in the pre-dawn, peak of meteors at mid-day. I did get to see one very nice one that evening.